Victorian Themed

When I first saw this vintage reproduction, I was torn.  View A of McCalls 8490 is atrocious on the model, but looks decent in the illustration.  Is it just the use of a stiff cotton that is at issue, or could the drafting be to blame?  View C was definitely the safer choice since the blouse looks great on the same model.

The pattern would work with any one of the many rayons I have stashed away.  But it was the middle of Winter, and making a rayon blouse did not strike my fancy.  I did think that it would make a lovely dress, though, and I had a length of wool with a fair amount of yardage with no set project in mind.  It wasn't something that I had any major attachment to, so I figured that if it all went wrong, I was not sacrificing some irreplaceable wool.

Once I started, I thought that the yoke could use a bit more detail (those pin tucks get lost in the bouncy wool).  I was reminded of a bin of ribbon that I have stashed away.  

And I just happened to have a spool of black satin ribbon edged in silver.  That was too perfect to ignore.

I ended up hand basting the ribbon before edge stitching everything down to keep things in place.

The wool used for this dress is definitely on the thicker side for a blouse (or dress, in this case) but the only real issue was with the shoulder ruffle.  It does not drape as nicely as it could in a less bulky fabric, but it still works.

The center back zipper was hand stitched into place.

Somewhere along the way, I decided that the dress was just going to be a bit much, and lost interest in the project.  But since I had everything cut out and had put most of the dress together, it also seemed a waste not to forge ahead.

The dress was lined in a rayon bemberg because the wool fabric was going to be a little too scratchy without.

I also swapped out the collar lining with the rayon to cut down on bulk.

There are no images of cutting the skirt out of my wool, but it is probably easier to see on the rayon.  I just continued the line of the peplum as long as I wanted my skirt to be.  Because the peplum was properly shaped to fit the waistband, I didn't think any additional flare or increase in width was necessary.

The lining was hand stitched into place which is standard for me.

And now for the fun part - dealing with all of those ruffles.  

The ribbon was applied while the pieces were flat. 

Since I wasn't sure about the ruffle, I gave myself enough length in the skirt pieces so that the dress would be full length, with or without the ruffle.

Once I realized that I had enough fabric for the job, and that I wanted to add the ruffle detail, I decided that it would be silly to cut off four or more inches of hemline.  Instead, I just measured up from the hemline and marked where I wanted the ruffle to sit.

The ruffle was stitched into place on what was essentially a finished dress with a massive amount of yardage.  This was not the most enjoyable part of the project, but it was manageable.

The finished garment is perhaps a little more "homespun" than I would like, however, it is not unexpected with my fabric choice.

Now that I know that I like the look of the design, I will probably make myself a rayon blouse at some point in the future.  One might argue that I should have began with the blouse to make sure I liked the pattern before cutting into all of that yardage, but here we are.

Do I need another full length dress?  Probably not, but it has reminded me of a few old Folkwear patterns that are more Victorian themed that I would love to cut into for a future project.  And I am still not convinced how I feel about View A of this pattern, but my stubborn streak wants to try it just to see if it's as big of a mess as it seems to be.

Autumnal Textures

I finished this pumpkin colored sweater in 2024, but only just got around to wearing it.  And part of the reason is that I wanted a classic brown skirt to pair with it.

So now that I have added a brown skirt to my wardrobe, there shall be lots of sweaters to pair with it.

As for the sweater, I am very pleased to have a pumpkin colored cabled option in my collection.

I am also feeling the need to jump into another cabled knitting project.  I just love a textured hand knit!

But seeing as it is already February, I should probably not start another knitting project.

I could, however, think about perusing my older knitting books and magazines to see if anything inspires me.  There are plenty of skeins of yarn in my sewing room that could use some attention.

Then again, looking through all those patterns could encourage me to buy new yarn, and that's the last thing that I need.

As for the color choice, I am thrilled to have a pumpkin sweater of my own, but I am not entirely sold on the Autumn color story for me, personally.

The brown and the tweed are another story - more of those, please.

I am also reminded that I could use more navy or deep blue colors as wardrobe basics . . . and there are always more colors to play with in that stash of fabric mocking me from upstairs.

Sweater:  Made by me, Raglan Cable Knit
Skirt:  Made by me, McCalls 8542
Earrings:  Vintage
Boots:  Calvin Klein "Dawna"

Covered in Cables

I do not have a lot of orange in my wardrobe, but an orange sweater immediately takes me back to high school and reminds me of a friend that was very fond of her pumpkin colored sweater.  I decided that I needed my own hand knit version.

The pattern is a vintage one from the 1970s that I found online.  I love a turtleneck, and the textured cables seemed like an excellent choice to pair with this lovely tweed yarn, aptly named "Pumpkin Pie."

Going through old photos of this project, I am realizing that it is the final knitting project for which I had a bit of help from my wonderful Valentino.  He was not much of a lap dog in his younger years, but he did love to sit with me for the last few years of his life.  So now I have even more of a reason to treasure this sweater.

Most of the sweater patterns that I have come across with turtlenecks come with raglan sleeves.  I wonder why that is?

This project came together easily.  My brain deals well with a knit pattern that keeps everything nice and lined up in a vertical column.

The yarn is from Knit Picks, and it did not give me any grief.

I have also come to realize that I prefer to knit sweaters in pieces rather than in the round.

I wouldn't say that seaming those pieces together is my favorite part of the process (which may be odd considering my affinity for hand sewing) but I certainly don't mind it.

Maybe working in separate pieces reminds me of sewing a garment together which is why it makes more sense to me than making something from top to bottom in the round.  Short rows, for instance, are something that drive me mad, and considering how often they are used to make sweaters in the round, that may be part of the problem.

But however it may have been constructed, it's safe to say that I have added another cozy hand knit turtleneck to the collection.

And I really love the look of the oversized cables.

If I didn't have at least four other in-progress knitting projects, I might even cast on another before Spring weather puts me off knitting with wool.  But I should probably get back to the unfinished items that are already started.  Only time will tell if the temptation of a new project is too much for me to concentrate on one of the other knits projects that could use some attention.

A Classic Silhouette in Wool Flannel

I was recently contacted by Longan Craft about another collaboration.  And while it may not be the most showy choice of textile, I decided that a wool flannel was the perfect fabric for a classic brown skirt that I have been meaning to make for years.

I have a bunch of sweaters that pair wonderfully with a brown shade, but I never come across the right fabric.

This wool blend has enough body that it makes an excellent choice for a skirt.

I did decide to line the skirt in a rayon for a couple of reasons.  First, a lining helps hold the shape of a garment.  It adds a bit of weight, which is great for a skirt.  And perhaps most importantly, I anticipate wearing the skirt with a a pair of tights, and I just hate when material sticks to my tights - this eliminates that issue.

Because I was fully lining the skirt, I decided to only pink the raw edges.

A standard zipper was installed by hand (pretty standard for me these days).

This pattern is not drafted with a lining.  But adding one is probably the easiest alteration to make to a project.  I simply made a duplicate skirt out of my rayon lining and then dropped it into the skirt, wrong sides together.  Those layers get basted together at the waistline before installing the waistband.

To secure the layers together along the zipper, I hand stitch the lining to the zipper tape.

I also like to add loops at the waistline so that I don't have to use a hanger with clips that will leave marks on the waistline.  Adding a couple of pieces of ribbon in the waist seam is easy enough.  

My biggest issue is remembering to grab a piece of ribbon before I have completed by waistband.  It's rather embarrassing how many times I have had to seam rip the waistband at the side seams to add my ribbons!

I did remember this time around, thankfully.

Everything went together smoothly for this project.  I would say that the pattern is a great option for someone with minimal sewing experience.  The directions are not as detailed as some contemporary pattern, but as long as you keep track of which piece is which, there are just a bunch of vertical seamlines and a waistband to contend with.

The pattern is technically a 1970s pattern, but a classic gored skirt is pretty timeless, in my opinion.

I did have to even out my lining hem, but the flannel is very stable, so it didn't need any trimming.

This is, without a doubt, my least favorite part of the process.

But now that the garment is finished, I can forget about sitting on the floor with a ruler and a bunch of pins . . . until the next project with a shaped skirt and a drapey fabric.

And I guess that's about it.

I would definitely be up for making another version of the skirt should the right fabric come along.  Because you can never have enough fit and flare skirts in the wardrobe!